Praedicator

Verba

Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 5th Week of Lent - Wed

"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." [John]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016 WEDNESDAY IN THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

[Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 and John 8:31-42]

"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." [John]

Two more characteristics of the Gospel of John appear today. The verb, "remain," is important because it is consistently used to mean a bond of faith. Some older translations would use the word, "abide." Then the dramatic tool of misunderstanding appears. Jesus will make a statement which is taken literally or in some other way that is different from his meaning, which gives him the opportunity to preach his message. [Read the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman in chapter 4.] In today's gospel, the audience [Jews who believed in him] takes the idea of "set you free..." to mean physical slavery, which was a common institution in the Middle East. Jesus is speaking of slavery to "sin," which in this gospel means a blindness to the truth about Jesus. It is faith in Jesus as the one whom God has sent that creates a freedom from darkness and spiritual blindness. The audience cites Abraham as their "free" ancestor in faith. Jesus tells them Abraham would have been glad to see Jesus because Jesus already existed before Abraham came to be!

Lent is a good time to take a look at those things which "enslave" us and create spiritual obstacles. They may be physical things such as money, sex, substance. consumer items. They may be psychological: prejudice, grudges, depression, etc.. These can make it difficult to "remain" in Jesus because we will put them first and only see Jesus as a kind of "add-on." The gospel today summons us to put our faith in the One who "was with God in the beginning," and not in some human ancestor, no matter how noble and inspiring. AMEN